The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1887-12-24

cipal of which was the yule log, which
was supposed to burn till Candlemas
eve. This stick, the largest and of the
hardest wood, received its name of
yule or ferst log, from the Saxon wood
tule, by which name the feast of the
Nativity was called. Among the colleges
of England and the Inns of Court, the
first dish at the. Christmas feast was
soused boar's head, in honor of the
Oxford student who, while reading
Aristotle in the forest, was attacked
by furious wild boar, and to save
himself, choked the beast by ramming
the volume down its throat with the
exclamation "Graeeum est" cit is
Greek"
The beautiful and tasteful custom oof
decorating houses and churches with
evergreens for holidays, has come down
to us from ancient Druidic times.-
They believed that patron spirits of the
dark groves in which they worshiped,
gathered to the evergreen boughs they
set up on festal occasions, and there
remained as protecting genii against
Dipping frosts until the return of the
mllder season. In carrying out this
pretty conceit, the holly, ivy, rosemary,
bay and mistletoe, were used for wreathes
and trimmings.
The superstition, scarcely yet aban-
doned among the more ignorant classes
of England, that the oxen were to be
seen on their knees in attitude of pray
er on the night before Christmas, was
but another phase of the prevalent
medieval notion that an OK and ass
were occupants of the stable in which
our Saviour was born, and that they
assumed suppliant posture during the
period of accouchment.
Shakespeare has converted into poet
ry the once popular fancy, that all evil
spirits forsake the world and go unto
their own abode during the hours of
Christmas night:
"Ever 'gainst that season comes within our Sa-
viour's birth is celebrated
This bird of dawning singeth all night long;
ana al then they say no spirit stirs abroad
nesnights are wholesome; no planet strikes;
N fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
SO halowed and so gracious is the time"
But it were idle to pursue further the
conceits that find spring in Christ
mas.
Many are extravagant, yet thorough
ly indicative of the times in which they
find an origin. Far more are as pretty
as the tenderest imagination could un-
fold. Some are grand as the occasion
which gave them birth. All are sug-
gestive, and the vividness of their i'm
press is manifest in the tenacity with
which we of newer and higher civili-
zation cling to them, and the willing
ness with which we perpetuate them.
The Puritans of New England and
the Quakers of Pennsylvania were stern
opposers of Christmas solemnities.-
Their simple creeds admitted of no
oStentations in keeping with the occa-
sion, and their pious souls revolted at
the idea of merrymaking over an event
so solemn and impressive as the birth
of Saviour. But these severly pietis-
tis sfsap petiYeHs hs.E.azsls %.
allowed to speak its soul in a voice of
its own choosing. The day has been
made statutory holiday by the State,
and may be called such by GUS
tom throughout the United States.
The religious services of the day in
many churches are the most solemn of
the year. 1t is day SO full of sacred
memories, warm affections, pleasing
episodes and noble charities, that
none will wish its observance to
cease.